In recent years, fluorescent optical fiber sensors fabricated using novel fluorescent materials have been used widely in the marine environment, water quality monitoring, and blood analysis owing to their advantages of intense luminescence, high sensitivity, real-time monitoring, and simple operation. This paper discusses the most recent development of fluorescent optical fiber sensors in the fields of dissolved oxygen, pH, and carbon dioxide detection, and summarizes the detection mechanism, advantages and disadvantages, and main performance parameters of different types of fluorescent materials. Finally, future development direction for fluorescent optical fiber sensors is analyzed and prospected based on the problems and challenges encountered at present.